Second to thought alone, words have tremendous power, both in the manifest and the material world. Spiritual teachings remind us that the universe is energy, thought is energy, and that our thoughts can work directly upon the energy flux of the universe, and thereby manifest our desires.

This is ultimately how anything and everything in the universe was, and continues to be, created - through the power of deliberate focused intelligence. Hence, the idea that we can become co-creators with God is true only to the extent that we
master our thoughts, purify our minds and develop the capacity to focus them with unwavering concentration upon what we seek to manifest.

Spoken words are largely overlooked in the modern world as instruments of immense esoteric power. Yes, we know their exoteric power to sway in a powerful speech. Both Hitler and Martin Luther King were excellent exponents of this - each in his own arena. However, the ESOTERIC power of words to affect change in the universe DIRECTLY has bčen the long-standing secret tradition in ancient wisdom. As the Bible says:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made"
- John 1: 1,3

In a very practical sense, the quality of life you experience is directly related to the quality of the words you use. Are your words often cynical, harsh, abrasive or abusive? That is the quality of life that you will tend to manifest. Are your thoughts gentle, pure, tranquil, loving and filled with joy? That is the quality of life that you will enjoy. Your words follow your thoughts, and your thoughts manifest the world you live in. Hence, by monitoring your words and seeking to control them, you get a direct grip on what you mind is thinking and manifesting for you. It is the mind that creates your life experience, and you get a close-up look at what it is doing from focusing upon your habitual words - both to yourself and to other people.

In ancient tradition, words were considered to have specific esoteric energies. Even the letters of the alphabet were attributed with specific numerical values, symbols, and energies.  Ancient Hebrew is an excellent example of this numerological construction. Words constructed from the Hebrew alphabet represented specific formulations of vibrational energy; which is the very stuff of the universe, since the universe is vibrational energy in its very essence.

This is why great significance was given to the names of objects and entities. To have the real name of something or someone was to have control over it. The implication was that you could cause that thing or entity to obey your will. Hence, responsible use of this power was absolutely vital, or else you ran the risk of looking like the Sorcerer's Apprentice, unleashing powers you had no idea how to control and quivering at the consequences of what you had done!

This is why modern day Christians have it totally wrong about blasphemy, and "taking the Lord's name in vain". They mistakenly think that simply saying "Oh God!" or "Oh Christ!" in a moment of exasperation is a blasphemous misuse of the name of God. Wrong. These expletives are about as blasphemous as saying "Oh Goodness!", or something similar.

The real idea of "taking the Lord's name in vain" lies in the power of the name itself, as discussed above. The idea is that when you call upon the secret name of God, with all the focus of your mind and will, and with your will tuned to the Source of the universe, you can literally command God to do what you would have him do!

Hence, the idea of taking the Lord's name in vain might be to use this awesome holy power for something foolishly trivial, like summoning up a bottle of coke, because you're too lazy to go down to the corner shop. To translate this to a modern analogy, you wouldn't pull the emergency stop handle on a subway train simply to tie your shoelace!

Hence, the blasphemy here is about a MISUSE OF ENERGY - the power inherent in the secret name of God, and entrusted to the believer. One privy to the most powerful secret in the universe must use it with responsibility and full awareness, not for petty self-serving ends. Simply saying "Oh Jesus!" is neither here nor there. 

Similarly, we can use words to manifest extremely powerful effects in our lives. There are many ways to do so. As we have said, one effective way is to ensure that the majority of words you use on a daily basis are wholesome and helpful: the sort of words you would like the quality of your life to be patterned after.

Another way is in meditation. You can take a world like Peace, Love, Joy, Harmony, and repeat it slowly aloud to yourself, or in the silence in your mind. Do it slowly and resonantly, allowing the full vibration of the word to penetrate your mind and body and then surround you, thereby touching your life in all areas.

Mantras are another powerful mystic use of words - an enormous topic that you would do well to study. You can take a mantra like "OM" and repeat this to yourself in meditation for healing and spiritual growth. There are even musical recordings of OM and other mantras that you can play to create a healing spiritual vibration in your surroundings.

On the other side of the coin, holding your tongue can also be most beneficial! There is increasing noise pollution in our world, as people increasingly give freč and endless vent to their every trivial thought, mostly out of pure ego. Perhaps Rap music characterizes this endless deluge of utterly worthless verbiage better than anything else in our modern culture.

When you do waste your words in meaningless chatter, you let that powerful esoteric energy dissipate worthlessly into empty space.  That is why it is a great benefit to maintain silence, whenever possible. After all, even a fool may be thought wise, as long as he keeps his mouth shut.

In his teenage years, the writer was most influenced by the Christian mystical writer, Thomas A Kempis, particularly when he wrote, 

"There are many occasions when I wish I had kept my silence unbroken, and had not mixed with men. Why are we so ready to talk and chat with other people when we rarely return to our silence without some injury to our conscience? We do it because we hope to receive some comfort from our conversation together, and
because we want to unburden our hearts which are full of all the things we have thought. We are only too happy to fill our thoughts with the things we love or desire of find difficult, and to talk to others about them. The pity is that it is often silly and useless to do so, for this outward comfort can destroy the inward comfort that is the gift of God. We must watch and pray therefore, so that time is not wasted."

From "The Imitation Of Christ" by Thomas A Kempis

There are good reasons why silence is such a common feature of monastic life and silence retreats abound in modern spiritual culture too. Ponder this, for your everyday life. 

Overall then, the lesson of this article is that we should speak less (and certainly less foolishly). When we do use words, we should choose them with care, and use them consciously and with power, fully aware of the potent impact that have at all levels - material, emotional, mental and spiritual. Know that words have power to shape your life, and to manifest what you think about and talk about all the time. If you have not done so ůp to now, use them wisely from this day forward.